Case Number 13410

THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN: 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

The Charge

"Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash, and I'm delighted to say
that I have no grasp of it whatsoever."

Opening Statement

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is an infamous film for all of the
wrong reasons. The film was a colossal bomb, though that was hardly Terry
Gilliam's fault. A producer with a weak understanding of the ins and outs of
film production, coupled with calamity after calamity, sent the budget spiraling
out of control, from an initial $24 million to an astounding (for 1989) $34
million -- or more, depending on your source. The completion bond agency even
went so far as to shut down the production, leaving Gilliam scrambling to secure
funding and support to finish. The movie was (obviously) finished, but Gilliam
was unable to fully realize his vision. Adding insult to injury, the leadership
at Columbia Pictures changed during filming; the new regime abandoned the film,
releasing it to only a handful of theaters.

So, as the ladies ask in the theatrical production that frames the film,
"What will become of the Baron?"

Facts of the Case

Determining the facts in this particular case is akin to capturing a
summer breeze; the film's perspective moves around quite a bit, so that the very
concept of "reality" becomes destabilized.

But here is what appears to be happening:

It is The Age of Reason. Wednesday. The city is under siege by the Sultan.
Attempting to forget their troubles and fears, the populace is packed into a
theater, watching a traveling company enact The Adventures of Baron von
Munchausen. In the middle of the performance, an elderly man cries out in
protest, totters down the aisle and onto the stage, and claims that the play is
a travesty; he claims to be the real Baron Munchausen (John Neville,
The X Files: Fight the Future), and he's here to stop the players from
spreading any more lies. Furthermore, he's the only one who can stop the war
with the Sultan -- because he's the one who started it. As the baron spins his
tale, the lines between tale and truth, play and reality -- even life and death
-- begin to blur, as he travels to the Moon, dances with a goddess, and is
swallowed by a sea monster in his quest to save the besieged town. When the dust
has finally settled and the Baron has ridden off into the sunset, no one is
quite sure what has happened -- including the viewing audience.

The Evidence

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is sometimes labeled as the
conclusion of Gilliam's unofficial "Dream Trilogy": Time
Bandits explores the dreams and fantasies of children, Brazil looks
at the dreams and fantasies of adulthood, and Munchausen supposedly
examines the dreams of the elderly. That's a nice, neat way of categorizing, I
suppose; the only problem is whether the film actually supports such an
interpretation. It's more accurate to say that the film demonstrates the
importance of imagination to society as a whole. In an age (of reason) in which
everything is reduced to logic and calculation, the city has forgotten the
liberating, rejuvenating power of imagination. But now, in their hour of darkest
need, the epitome of imagination has returned to show them the way.

That's the reason the character of Sally (Sarah Polley, The Sweet
Hereafter) is so important. Thematically, her relationship with the Baron is
not unlike that between Charlie and Willie Wonka. The adults around her have
long ago renounced their imaginations in favor of reason; even her father, who
runs the touring theater company, is more interested in his testimonials than
the magic of the theater -- the testimonials are tangible proof of the
quality of his company. When reason is king, even bravery represents a threat,
as is shown when a nameless soldier (Sting, Dune) is executed for an
astounding act of heroism. By traveling with the Baron, Sally learns not only
the power of imagination, but that to serve imagination as the Baron does, you
must embrace the magic completely -- which is why the Baron doesn't seem worried
about what is happening to the city during his quest. Just as Sally's faith in
the Baron saves him from Death, it is only by saving Sally, literally and
figuratively, that the Baron can restore imagination and wonder to a world that
has become as sterile and dangerous as the nightmarish dystopia of
Brazil.

Terry Gilliam films are awash with style, and this one is certainly no
exception. Production Designer Dante Ferretti teams with Gilliam to create both
the rapturous and the terrifying:

When I first saw the movie years ago, Gilliam's image of Death scared the
crap out of me. Almost twenty years later, it still scares the crap out of me.
That's part of Gilliam's genius; he understands imagery and symbolism well
enough that the power of his imagery can overcome weakness in the narrative.

Acting is solid, if not stellar, but apart from the lead, this really isn't
an actor's movie. John Neville positively (and literally, on occasion) glistens
as Baron Munchausen, easily shifting between ages (he portrays the Baron in his
thirties, his fifties, and his eighties). Sarah Polley handles the role of Sally
without becoming too cute or too precocious -- no mean feat. Jonathan Pryce
embodies the rule of reason as the Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson, whose only
concern is that everything, including the war, remains on schedule. There are a
couple of notable cameos: Oliver Reed goes well over the top as Vulcan, yet it
somehow works. Robin Williams does his usual schtick as the King of the Moon --
but again, in the context of a film in which everything else is over the top, it
works. A nineteen-year-old Uma Thurman (Pulp Fiction) as Venus simply
reeks of typecasting. Really, the sequence with Vulcan (Oliver Reed,
Gladiator) and Venus is pure, surreal magic. When Vulcan calls Venus a
floozy and she shrieks "Floozy?!?! Floozy!?!?," the way
Thurman's voice cracks is priceless; the sublime image of desire is suddenly
transformed into a fishwife.

Video is a decidedly mixed bag. On the one hand, colors are incredibly crisp
and vivid; Gilliam used an intense palette in much of the film, and it must have
taken some work to prevent bleeding. On the other hand, there's a ridiculous
amount of grain, particularly on special effects shots. The backdrop is clearly
visible in one of the water tank scenes, but in the context of the film, you can
make a case that it's deliberate. The remixed 5.1 sound is clear, with not a lot
of static or hisses, but the mix could do with a bit more punch in the lower
registers (Actually, that may just be a personal preference than a problem with
the DVD. I got out the soundtrack, and it has the same problem; Michael Kamen's
score, while entrancing, favors the higher-pitched instruments, perhaps going
for a dissociated, airy sound.

Sony has collected an excellent set of extras for the release. The new
making-of featurette, "The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen,"
does a good job of chronicling the film's oh-so-troubled production. It features
interviews with all the principal cast members, Gilliam, and producer Thomas
Schühly, who seems to be the true culprit in the film's production
nightmare. He seems convinced that had everyone simply listened to him,
everything would have turned out OK, even though it was listening to him in the
first place that resulted in many of the production's major miscues. The
commentary track features Gilliam and writer/co-star (Adolphus) Charles McKeown.
It rambles a bit, but they're both clearly having fun, and they offer a fair
amount of information on the production along the way, so it's OK. The deleted
scenes are nothing special, but the storyboards for some deleted scenes are
interesting. Even the storyboards for some scenes that were not even filmed are
shown, with Gilliam and McKeown narrating. The final storyboard scene is
particularly amazing, and it is a tragedy that Gilliam never got a chance to
film it.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

The ending is somewhat abrupt; at this point even Gilliam isn't even sure how
he initially intended to end the film before the accountants stepped in. It
almost kinda sorta possibly works, though there's an initial tendency to tap the
side of your head and go back a few scenes to see if you missed something. But
it is what it is. Gilliam is not for everyone's tastes, even in a more
accessible work like 12 Monkeys. That's neither a good or bad thing, but
it still has to be said. Gilliam tends to overload his visuals, making the
audience work a little harder to stay on track. Again, that's not necessarily a
bad thing, but particularly an age in which attention spans last little longer
than a music video or YouTube clip, audiences have to work a little harder to
watch a Gilliam film.

Closing Statement

The more I think of it, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a more
positive spin on the ideas Gilliam developed in Brazil. In that film,
dreams, even insanity, were presented as the only true means of escaping a
terrifying reality. Munchausen, on the other hand, posits dreams and
imagination not as a means of escape, but as a viable means of change.

The Verdict

Terry Gilliam and the Baron are thanked for reminding us how imagination can
transform a weary world. Sony Pictures, by virtue of providing solid extras and
a pretty decent print, are acquitted with the thanks of the court.

Distinguishing Marks
* Commentary with Director Terry Gilliam and Co-Writer/Actor Charles McKeown
* The Madness and Misadventures of Munchausen: An All-New Three-Part Documentary on the Making of the Film
* Storyboard Sequences with All-New Vocal Performances by Terry Gilliam and Chris McKeown
* Deleted Scenes